


Redbeard and Victor Trevor

by The_Persian_Slipper



Category: Sherlock (TV)
Genre: EMP Theory, M/M, Meta, Redbeard was a dog, Sherlock Meta, Spoilers for S3, Spoilers for S4, TJLC
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-14
Updated: 2019-10-14
Packaged: 2020-12-31 01:33:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 938
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21035804
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Persian_Slipper/pseuds/The_Persian_Slipper
Summary: "The Adventure of The Gloria Scott" may hold some answers about Redbeard. A meta in which I argue that Redbeard was indeed a dog.





	Redbeard and Victor Trevor

**Author's Note:**

> My very first meta. I'm quite proud of this one. Please drop by @thepersianslipper on tumblr to read all the comments by other users.

I’ve been re-reading the cannon for the first time since I started watching _BBC Sherlock _and I finally got to _“The Adventure of The Gloria Scott”._ If you don’t know that one, [here’s](https://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=https%3A%2F%2Fowlcation.com%2Fhumanities%2FPlot-Summary-of-the-Adventure-of-the-Gloria-Scott&t=MDZmNjVhMzIxMDU1ZjhjMmQ4MTc2ZDRhMTQ3OGQ2NGYzMjU5ZGJhNixiYThjMzhmY2I3ZWFjY2ZhNTRlMDliMjUxN2ZmZmUxNjIxYWI1NzQw) a plot summary for the story.

But I’m not here to talk about the case. I’m here to talk about the character Holmes introduces in his story (and never mentions again) - **Victor Trevor**. 

According to Holmes himself, Victor Trevor was his only friend in campus.

_“You never heard me talk of Victor Trevor?” he asked. “He was the only friend I made during the two years I was at college. (…) Trevor was the only man I knew, and that only through the accident of his bull terrier freezing on to my ankle one morning as I went down to chapel.”_

_“It was a prosaic way of forming a friendship, but it was effective. I was laid by the heels for ten days, but Trevor used to come in to inquire after me. At first it was only a minute’s chat, but soon his visits lengthened, and before the end of the term we were close friends. (…)”_

_The Adventure of The Gloria Scott_

That resonated with me: **Holmes** and **Trevor** met because** Trevor’s dog** bit Holmes. Where have we seen this three characters - **Sherlock Holmes**, **Victor Trevor** and a **dog**?

The episode from hell - The Final Problem!

More intelligent people than I have written many wonderful metas about that episode in particular and S4 in general, but I would like to draw your attention to these metas by [@sagestreet](https://tmblr.co/mlJaduhbzED-pqc0fUQi1ig) : [Jungian interpretation of TFP](http://sagestreet.tumblr.com/post/167847716107/the-cg-jung-remix-sherlock) and [Redbeard and dogs in BBC Sherlock](http://sagestreet.tumblr.com/post/165742474872/follow-the-dog-part-1-sherlock). I highly recommend you read them. Not only are they wonderful, insightful texts, they were my source of inspiration for this meta.

**Firstly**, let me say that I truly believe Redbeard was Sherlock’s beloved childhood dog. He was referenced several times before S4. It makes **way** more sense than his being a masked childhood trauma. As we’ve all seen, S4 keeps repeating themes and topics from previous series (from case titles, to music scores to props!). It’s not a big stretch to think that the trope from THoB was ‘recycled’ as well.

_SHERLOCK: “Childhood trauma masked by an invented memory. Boring!”_

_The Hounds of Baskerville_

**Secondly**, the Mind Palace sequence in HLV tells us that Redbeard was put down for some reason. We can argue further that it happened during his childhood. (In the same MP sequence we see little!Sherlock calling for Redbeard; the dialogue in TSoT _“By the way, Sherlock, do you remember Redbeard?”, ”I’m not a child anymore, Mycroft.”_)

**Thirdly**, we know that whatever happened to Redbeard influenced Sherlock deeply. It turned the affectionate, emotional child into the cynical, closed-off adult that we know.

_HOLMES: “Oh, Watson, nothing made me. I made me… Redbeard?”_

_The Abominable Bride_

**Lastly**, in S4 some of the stories adapted have had some drastic tonal changes. One example is _“The Adventure of the Yellow Face”_, where Holmes’ overconfidence makes him assume the client’s wife is hiding an affair, when she was actually protecting her young daughter, born from a previous marriage. Everyone is happy about the resolution of the case. Even so, Holmes realizes he was wrong, and asks Watson to say ‘Norbury’ if he ever thinks the detective is becoming overconfident. 

_“Watson, if it should ever strike you that I am getting a little overconfident in my powers, or giving less pains to a case than it deserves, kindly whisper ‘Norbury’ in my ear, and I shall be infinitely obliged to you.”_

_The Adventure of The Yellow Face_

The story has a sweet, sentimental ending to it, in sharp contrast with the use of the ‘Norbury’ reference in T6T. 

Another is the gruesome reference to _“The Three Garidebs” _in TFP… I don’t need to go into that, do I?

So, what if _“The Adventure of The Gloria Scott”_ was also used, but flipped on his head? What if the sweet, simple story of how Holmes met his only friend from University, the one who drove him to pursue criminal investigation as a career (who inspired him to become The Detective), became much darker?

Consider the following premises: 

  * S4 is fake as shit and should be read in a meta level (I am going with the EMP theory in this one)
  * Eurus is NOT real, but the embodiment of Sherlock’s shadow/deepest emotions turned human in the EMP universe.
  * The Sherlock-Victor-Redbeard unit is as real as the Holmes-Trevor-Trevor’s dog unit, but again, reversed, and much, much darker.
  * In the canon, Trevor’s dog bites Holmes. If in BBC Sherlock Redbeard is Sherlock’s dog, we can assume Redbeard bit Victor.

Here is what I think happened:

  * Little Sherlock and Victor were best friends. Something happens that causes Redbeard to bite Victor.
  * If you take [@sagestreet](https://tmblr.co/mlJaduhbzED-pqc0fUQi1ig) (dog=homosexuality), maybe Sherlock fell in love with Victor and told him so or tried to make a move. The other boy didn’t react well to his advances, maybe became violent. In the fight that followed, Redbeard tried to defend his human and attacked Vitor.
  * Because he attacked a child, Redbeard had to be put down. It’s easy to imagine how terribly that would affect Sherlock. He could have blamed himself, thinking that his feelings for Victor, his desires(=Eurus) killed Redbeard. He learned that caring for someone will end in loneliness and heartbreak. 
  * Trying to help his little brother, Mycroft teaches Sherlock how to lock away his heart from the world and become imune to sentiment.
  * “All life ends, all hearts are broken… Caring is not an advantage.”

_PS: Bonus points for this image_


End file.
